Babylon 5: Thunder Child
by mattmanganon
Summary: During the minbari war, over half of the human species lost their lives, this is the story of one ship that tried to hold the line against insurmountable odds


Babylon 5: Thunder Child

inspired by H.G. Wells: War of the Worlds.

the Minbari war-machine had turned it's ugly head towards the inner worlds colonised by the Humans, no Human ship was capable of defeating a Minbari cruiser, but that didn't stop the Humans from trying, this is the story of Hyperion-Class EAS Thunder Childs last stand. Vega Colony was the place where Thunder Child had decided to hold their ground, no surrender, no retreat.

Thomas Kin, Second in command floated through Thunder Child, he was baring the news that he knew everyone was both waiting for and dreading, he entered the bridge and floated over to the Captain. "sir, we just recieved word, the Minbari have engaged the outer fleet."

"Very well, how is the Evacuation proceeding?" Asked Captain Giligan Royle

"Slowly" replied Thomas. "the Evacuation Ships are old cargo vessels, they weren't built for planetary evacuation."

"try to speed things up, we all know that the fleet won't hold them long." he said.

"Captain!" yelled Comms officer Harry Lennard. "3 Minbari Warships have broken through the outer fleet and are making their way here. ETA 10 minutes."

"dammit, tell the Civilians that it's now or never, load as many as you can and get moving." said Royle. on the surface, word had reached the Civilians of the aproaching Minbari warships and now Riots were breaking out all over the planet. people killing each other to get to the ships, people trampled in the stampedes for the last places on the smaller shuttles off-planet, after what seemed like hours, but in actuallity was several minutes, the Evacuation ships lifted off and headed to the Jump-gates at flank-speed. Royle watched them through the camera's. the Scanner officers were watching out for them through the camera's too. Minbari ships used Stealth technology that made them almost impossible to see through scanners.

"WE HAVE THEM SIR! MOVEMENT ON THE HORIZON" yelled Francis Korrin, Scanner officer. Royle's heart stood still, the civilian ships had only just lifted off, there was no way they would make it to the Jump-Gate before the Minbari got within firing range. it would be a shooting gallery.

"intercept course." ordered Royle. "all hands battle-stations. the civilians must make it to safety." he turned to the tactical officer, Reginald Farnes. "how are our chances of holding them off?" he asked.

"from what i've heard, very little, our Guns will do very little to them... but..." he pondered for a second. "if we shunt more power to the Cannons, they will have more of an effect, but if don't look to get too many shots off, plus we'll have to draw power from other systems." he said.

"very well. give the guns as much power as they can take, i don't care where you get it from, take it from life-support if you have to." he said. Thunder Child charged Forward, the Minbari ignored them, they knew that Thunder Child was just there to stop them from taking the Civilians, and Earth vessels were incapable of harming them. Thunder Child closed to point-blank range. "take this you rock headed BASTARDS. BATTERIES OPEN FIRE!" he yelled. the main particle cannons of Thunder Child opened up and met with the Minbari Warship, ignoring Thunder Child was the last mistake that ships crew ever made. however, after that shot, the Particle Cannons practically melted. they needed time to cool-down, but time was something they didn't have. the civilians onboard the escape ships watched through the view port.

"whats that ships name?... Thunder Child?... COME ON THUNDER CHILD!" yelled a civilian "COME ON THUNDER CHILD!" "KICK THEIR ASS THUNDER CHILD!" "THANK YOU THUNDER CHILD!" the Civilians cheered. perhaps Earth wasn't licked yet, maybe there was hope. Royle knew that they would die, but the civilians were almost out of harms way, holding them just a little longer would ensure the Civilians Safety. but with the main guns no longer opperational, there was only one weapon they had left.

"set a collision course." said Royle. the Hyperion-class began to move towards the other Warships, the Minbari turned to face them and fired. the beams pierced Thunder Child.

"MASSIVE DAMAGE, WEAPONS, SCANNERS, LIFE SUPPORT. WE'VE LOST PRACTICALLY EVERYTHING!"

"thank you gentlemen, it has been an honour serving with you, all of you..." he said and saluted, the rest of them saluted as the burning out-of-control wreck crashed into one of the Minbari Warships. as the 2 vessels exploded, the Civilians watched and their cheers turned to mourning. they watched as the wrecks burned. they watched for as long as they could, until the ships entered Hyper-space. the head of the Floatila saluted

"farewell Thunder Child." he said.


End file.
